Meet My 97-year-old Muse Who Discovered Her Alter-ego In Front Of My Camera

Ms. Ulmer is a 97 year old bohemian artist who has been making a piece of art everyday for the last 90 years. She worked as an illustrator at The Philadelphia Free Library for over 35 years and helped establish its Art Department. Although she has worked in many mediums, I became smitten with her self portraits.

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Marie is not a vain person, she is a practical person. She wanted to learn how to draw so she continually looked at herself in the mirror. The bi product is an elaborate collection of her “selfie” over decades. The opportunity to take pictures of someone who has virtually no ego but also has (I’m guessing) hundreds of self portraits was something that I could not resist.

The Ms.Ulmer book project began a couple years ago. Our collaboration seemed natural. The pages will include my images of her alongside her illustrated self portraits. She trusts me and we have a great friendship that has lead to her discovering her alter ego, or the personality she never explored, in front of my camera to become my muse.